Senator Grace Poe. PHOTO FROM SENATOR POE’S OFFICE
Senator Grace Poe on Friday vowed to push for the final approval of the P8.73-billion fund for the government’s national feeding program in the next year’s proposed budget.
Saying that the “nutri-meals” program would be a “safety net” for malnourished students, Poe said this would cover all “severely wasted,” or those with chronic malnutrition, and “wasted” pupils to improve their nutritional status at the end of 120 feeding days and increase their classroom attendance and performance.
The outlay will be sourced from the budget allocated for the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). It will get a P5.3-billion share from DepEd’s budget and P3.43 billion from the DSWD’s budget.
Poe co-sponsored the Senate bill creating a national school feeding program.
BACKSTORY: Poe urges Senate: Prioritize bill on school-based feeding program
In a statement, the senator said she would ask DSWD officials why it had slashed its budget for the feeding program by almost P1 billion—from last year’s P4.43 billion—when the Senate deliberates the proposed spending plan of the agency.
Under the measure, DepEd will coordinate with the National Nutrition Council and the Food and Nutrition Research Institute in preparing a menu for public basic education students.
The menu would be prepared according to age range, type of school, and local cultural eating preferences, within recommended standards.
The meals should provide at least one-third of the daily nutritional requirement based on the Philippine Dietary Reference Intake.
Poe also cited statistics saying one in 10 children aged five and below (7.9%) are wasted, while one in five (19.9%) are underweight, and three in ten (30.7%) have stunted growths or too short for their age due to lack of nutrition. IDL